I was out and about yesterday, when my friend called me and offered to drive me to a couple shops, one of which is an out-of-town fish store. his job takes him all over the area, and whenever he sees a fish or aquarium store he goes in, out of curiosity. Anyway, I went along. I visited one Big Al's and this other shop. . and ended up buying a small pound of purple Live rock, a peppermint shrimp and a snail, along with a couple small crabs and shells.
On my way home, I periodically checked on my little guys. The peppermint shrimp had seemingly, 'lost' some of its coloring and only then did I notice a weird bump on its side. I was worried at this point, not knowing what to make of this. so I got home and acclimated the shrimp and crabs and snail.
Unfortunately I had to go right to work, so I couldn't really do any observations. But since then (a day and a half) it is still alive, and has regained its coloring. The bump is still there, and is pretty noticeable now that I'm aware it is there. here is a picture:
it's there on the right side. he seems fine otherwise, although he hides a lot. Likes coming out when it's dim or dark, but I haven't sat and watched him yet
aside from that, everything else seems fine. my only fish (a crescent damsel) Doesn't seem to mind him now. the crabs are scuttling around fine. The snail has taken one of the coral skeletons and has remained there for the time being. One of the empty shells actually had a dead crab inside! so I've left that for now, to see what happens. .
NOW for the exciting news! The bits of live rock I bought had some mushrooms, and the beginnings of a carnation coral, or this is what the sales guy told me. I didn't care too much, I have only a basic 20w fluorescent right now and that's okay I think. BUT . . . apparently the live rock had more stuff on it. Because when I got home after work, I noticed more stuff that didn't seem interesting before. It seems there are tiny corals all over! the pictures I managed to take are below:
magnified shots:
mushrooms?
carnation coral?:
this guy had some interesting little growths near his bottom, like tendrils of orange. Very tiny to see, could not take any photographs. he himself is small, like maybe 2 mm across!
notice the darker orange spots on the surface of lighter orange:
I know the shots are fuzzy . . this is the fault of my camera. Never thought it was so limited!
the mushrooms(?) are closing and opening with the light.
There are STILL other tiny pieces I keep noticing as I look the rocks over! they sometimes pop up and are very small. . I can't get a decent pic. I think there might be tiny frags all over, I don't know how these pieces got so populated.
As a precaution, I took a 4 foot fluorescent fixture from my kitchen and set it atop the tank. this brings the lighting up to 80w of fluorescent, though I do not know if they are any better than NO. Without fitted reflectors or a stand, I don't have much else to offer these guys.
Okay, this is lengthy enough. can anyone help with ID or suggestions?
Thanks a whole bunch in advance!
On my way home, I periodically checked on my little guys. The peppermint shrimp had seemingly, 'lost' some of its coloring and only then did I notice a weird bump on its side. I was worried at this point, not knowing what to make of this. so I got home and acclimated the shrimp and crabs and snail.
Unfortunately I had to go right to work, so I couldn't really do any observations. But since then (a day and a half) it is still alive, and has regained its coloring. The bump is still there, and is pretty noticeable now that I'm aware it is there. here is a picture:
it's there on the right side. he seems fine otherwise, although he hides a lot. Likes coming out when it's dim or dark, but I haven't sat and watched him yet
aside from that, everything else seems fine. my only fish (a crescent damsel) Doesn't seem to mind him now. the crabs are scuttling around fine. The snail has taken one of the coral skeletons and has remained there for the time being. One of the empty shells actually had a dead crab inside! so I've left that for now, to see what happens. .
NOW for the exciting news! The bits of live rock I bought had some mushrooms, and the beginnings of a carnation coral, or this is what the sales guy told me. I didn't care too much, I have only a basic 20w fluorescent right now and that's okay I think. BUT . . . apparently the live rock had more stuff on it. Because when I got home after work, I noticed more stuff that didn't seem interesting before. It seems there are tiny corals all over! the pictures I managed to take are below:
magnified shots:
mushrooms?
carnation coral?:
this guy had some interesting little growths near his bottom, like tendrils of orange. Very tiny to see, could not take any photographs. he himself is small, like maybe 2 mm across!
notice the darker orange spots on the surface of lighter orange:
I know the shots are fuzzy . . this is the fault of my camera. Never thought it was so limited!
the mushrooms(?) are closing and opening with the light.
There are STILL other tiny pieces I keep noticing as I look the rocks over! they sometimes pop up and are very small. . I can't get a decent pic. I think there might be tiny frags all over, I don't know how these pieces got so populated.
As a precaution, I took a 4 foot fluorescent fixture from my kitchen and set it atop the tank. this brings the lighting up to 80w of fluorescent, though I do not know if they are any better than NO. Without fitted reflectors or a stand, I don't have much else to offer these guys.
Okay, this is lengthy enough. can anyone help with ID or suggestions?
Thanks a whole bunch in advance!
